Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the evidential basis is for increasing the minimum income requirement (MIR) to £38,700 for certain family and work visas; if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the MIR on those affected in (a) Derry City and Strabane and (b) other regions where average gross annual earnings are below the national average; and if he will ensure that the Government's planned impact assessment of increasing the MIR includes an equality impact assessment.

Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making in this process. A fact sheet and an initial assessment on the impact of the changes on immigration can be found on GOV.UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fact-sheet-on-net-migration-measures-further-detail

and

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts/legal-migration-statement-estimated-immigration-impacts-accessible.

A full Regulatory Impact Assessment on these changes has been developed and the Government will publish this alongside an Equality Impact Assessment on this change, both in due course.